Catch & Release - My Rant

[parker23]

Catch and Release – My Perspective

Opinions are like a-holes, everybody has one!

So for what it’s worth; here is my take on the catch and release debate.

I am addicted to Striped Bass Fishing and have been for the last 40 plus years. It all started growing up on Mt. Hope Bay. In 1969 my parents bought a waterfront home in Swansea. My play ground was the beach across the river from Ocean Grove. My dad was an avid fisherman and has a 63lb bass skin-mount that he caught in 1966. I saw that fish hanging in the living room every day of my life and was and still am awed by it.

I was extremely fortunate to spend my youth playing, swimming, digging clams and quahogs and fishing for Bass, Bluefish and Squeteague. My fondest memories are nights in the boat with my father and grandfather filling fish boxes. Or mornings before school my dad and I would hit the beach for a few casts. The 1970’s and early 80's were amazing, Bass and huge Squeteague were very plentiful and we caught and ate a ton of fish. In the late 80’s, I was a diehard fly-fishing finatic and practiced catch and release exclusively. The minimum size was pretty high and most of the fish I caught were well under the legal limit. As the Bass population started to recover, I kept an occasional fish, nothing under 36” which was my personal minimum.

I am a large mammal and I like to eat flesh. My favorite flesh happens to be Striped Bass. I don’t keep anything under 36”. Because I figure that they have had at least 1 or 2 spawning cycles under their belt.

When I harvest a fish, I use everything. After filleting the bass, I boil the carcass and get all of the meat off the bones and freeze the stock for future use.

Last year I harvested 28 fish. So far this year, I am at 16 dead bass in my belly and have at least 25 gallons of delicious stock in the freezer. 20 years ago, I would have scoffed at someone who kept so many fish. Oh well, my opinion has changed as I have aged.

I love and respect Striped Bass. I am truly thankful for every fish I catch and release or take home for the table. It is my right to choose how I use this resource.

I think the current regulation of 2 fish @ 28” is ridiculous. I don’t have a solution; however, I think the minimum size should be increased substantially. Increasing the size to 36” or 38”, so that every female has an opportunity to spawn would help protect our valuable resource.

It does bother me when someone posts a picture of a nice bass and the thread gets hijacked by catch and release remarks. But that is only my opinion, therefore relevant to me alone.

Like I said; opinions are like a-holes, everybody has one! I have been called an a-hole and worse many times, most times it was deserved. As I get older, I really don’t give a hoot if you think I am a jerk because my opinion differs from yours.

I hope to catch and release a few fish tonight. If I am blessed by the Fish Gods, I will be filleting a fish around 2 am Friday morning.